Idiom: Down-To-Earth; used as an adjective.
First Example:
“All the boys in Judy’s class love the new girl, Sabrina. Unlike the other girls who only think about celebrity news and gossip, Sabrina is a very friendly and down-to-earth girl who often values true friendship with others.”
Meaning: Down-To-Earth refers to people who have a sensible and practical character and/or personality. In the example above, Sabrina is very popular amongst the boys in her class because she has a very sensible personality and values friendship above celebrity gossip. This idiom can apply to any person who has a very practical and sensible personality. This idiom is most often used as an adjective when describing sensible people.
Here is another example:
Second Example:
“Everybody in the company admires the new General Manager, Henry. Thanks to his leadership and down-to-earth approach to solving problems, every employee was able to get a bonus this year.”
Meaning: In this case, the idiom, Down-To-Earth, serves to describe Henry’s practical and sensible decision-making ability. Because Henry has a very practical approach to solving problems, the company was able to provide their employees with a bonus for the year. In this example, the idiom is being used as an adjective.
This idiom is from the book "The Idiom Adventure – Fluency in Speaking and Listening," which is used as supplementary material in LSI’s Intermediate Conversation classes.
For more information, please visit http://idiomstudy.blogspot.com/